Letter to CEO of Hydro One on customer service improvements

Randy Hillier, MPP for Lanark-Frontenac-Lennox and Addington, wrote Hydro One's President and CEO demanding a number of improvements to the company's customer service.

My letter to Hydro One CEO Carmine Marcello makes recommendations for administrative and technical improvements to customer service and billing- these are things that fall directly under his control. These are also the subject of the Ombudsman’s investigation.

The cost of electricity however, including the price per kWh, delivery charges, regulatory charges and debt retirement charges are the consequence of bad government energy policies and can only be rectified at Queen’s Park. Premier Wynne/McGuinty created this energy policy mess- Mr. Marcello implements her policies.

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This is what you get when we have a government that has driven us into a mind numbing provincial debt, blows away a Billion dollars on a gas plant fiasco and seems totally unconcerned about how our hydro company deals with the population of our province.

The letter is not good enough! It doesn’t point out the main problem, that is effecting millions in Ontario. Reconstruction Ontario Hydro has produced a mass of bills. We are feeding the bills now for a long time and still don’t get a break. WE are paying for a company that was mismanaged as Ontario Hydro. The customers are paying bills that have nothing to do with our power consumption. Research and development should come out of the high cost we are paying for our every day usage. Mismanagement in pension funds are 100% not our problem.
That problem is not only one, that needs to be addressed to Hydro One, but to the Energy Board of Ontario. They let Hydro One get away with demands that are not fair to customers.
The standard fee that used to be the delivery fee could be set to a level that help with the cost of research and development. However, right now we are paying with the standard fee together with all the other fees, between 70%-150% and more on top of our consumption.
We are being ripped off by the Ontario’s power company with the agreement of the Ontario Government.
In my book the word is “Illegal”, or in a not so nice English, “Crooked.”
The other issue that is not addressed in the letter, is the fact that we have no rights in the contract we sign with Hydro One.
Our constitution says that we have the human right to a normal Canadian living standard.
Under such rights we should be able to protest against something in any contract, that is against health and safety of our body and of the property that we live on.
Smart meter are considered safe by Hydro One, but not in the world. We should have the right to object against them, being installed on our property, which means, we don’t pay for them. We didn’t purchase them from Hydro One, we didn’t even rent them from the company. We just had to take them or leave the contract, which in return would take away our right as a human for a normal living standard in Ontario under the Canadian Charter of Rights.
We are paying in Ontario for things we didn’t ask for, but we have to take it. By leaving them, we lose the right for a comfortable living.
“That needs to be addressed.”

“All the extra bills people have to pay, overpay and can’t afford to pay, originated from the above problem. "

The system needs to be total reconstructed, with clear lines for the customer to read and to have choices when they sign a contract.
I am willing to help with them.
I am not a lawyer and my knowledge is limited, but I know that I have rights that are not given to me right now.
My rights as a Canadian in Canada is the right to make choices. Making them, should not effect my normal living standard in the province of Ontario. If I would make a choice right now, toward my health and safety, I would be without electricity, which again would effect my health and safety. We are dependent of our power company (Companies) without choices.
Lena Koch

After 50 years in IT I can only say that the problems with Hydro billing suggest they hired the wrong kid to do their billing system, probably on his XBox. We got the letter yesterday — pathetic. It is bad enough that their billing system does not include reasonableness checks that compares with prior values to flag bad data — that idea has only been around for a couple of decades. But the attitude I have read about that suggests the customer service staff TRUSTS their new billing system over prior history, the mark of complete amateurs — didn’t I read that Hydro outsourced customer service? So the letter from hydro saying if they falsely charged us but would not charge interest was not comforting — I don’t expect to have to pay anything that is not supported by the meter. We need engineers and technical managers to run the power system that the province depends upon, not politicians more interested in lining their own pockets than serving the public.

Thanks for championing the Hydro One issue. All of Ontario is affected.
Taxpayers are further oppressed by MPAC and I hope you’ll take on MPAC too. Ontarians need an MPAC champion. MPAC intimidates taxpayers.

Just a reminder. Hydro One and MPAC are evil sisters. Please consider reminding Andre Marin that MPAC has given Marin’s report “Getting it Right” token lip service. Assessments in eastern Ontario are full of mistakes! Please remind people to appeal their assessments. 30% of Ontario properties are over assessed by 20%. It’s worth people’s effort to appeal. MPAC is getting away with millions. Complacent Ontarians are letting them get away with it. This is extra disposable money if they can motivate themselves to fill out the RfR. Appeal your assessments people! It’s worth your time and money!

Keep after them Randy. It takes persistence to get their attention and people will be pleasantly surprised by the results of people being a ‘pit bull’.

It’s time to get to the bottom of the high rates. Debt retirement needs to be removed along with the high charges for delivery. These costs are not only harmful to the average home owner but these costs are driving out industry as business cannot pay these costs and at the same time be competitive on world markets. It almost seems that the powers that be want this to be. Just sayin…